


600 Words Minimum

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Psychology, Sexuality, Social Anxiety, Social Phobia, University, larry au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-15 08:51:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2222931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry had been diagnosed with Susac's Syndrome and social phobia at the age of fourteen. Three years later, he is still learning to cope with his 24 hour memory span and his fear of what people think of him, all in his little home in Cheshire.<br/>Louis is a psychology major in Cambridge and is given an assignment involving some writing.<br/>They both meet through a penpal campaign, writing to each other with their own motives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	600 Words Minimum

_"600 Words Minimum is the largest letter exchange program in UK, reaching up to 30 million participants each year. You can register at any 600WM outlet near you before the 1st of June to take part in the 6 month letter exchange. All you need is to fill in a form with your basic information and you will be assigned a partner, "  
_             Sitting on his couch, Louis had his eyes fixed to the computer screen, his back arched in excitement. This was his first year in Cambridge University and the letter exchange was what he chosen as his first assignment. He was eager to find out who his 'pen pal' would be.  
            Professor Matrone had told them that 600WM and Cambridge University had been collaborating for years and they had been specifically sending out ads for participants who were mentally troubled to cooperate with Cambridge's psychology students. It was part of the study program and it would be a opportunity for the other party to recieve some advice on how to overcome their disorders. Or just share their experience.  
            It would be Louis' job to communicate with his 'pen pal' and try to help solve whatever problem there was or just listen to the other party. It was also a chance to form a new friendship. Louis couldnt wait anymore, but it was still a week away to June. _Patience,_ he told himself.  
_"the conditions are that the letter you recieve must be replied within a week and you may not force whatever private information out of the other party. Five pounds will be required prior to registration,"  
_             Meanwhile in Cheshire, Harry felt surprised at what he'd just read. His psychologist was looking at him with a smile plastered on her face. "We can go straight to the therapy groups, exposure therapy, or you can try this first. To let you on a little taste on what therapy will be like. It's your choice, Harry." Harry would rather not do all three, but his mother was so keen on him recovering.  
            He nodded, "I'll do the letter exchange." At least it would give him time to adjust to communicating.  
**"a meeting will be scheduled in a specific place at the end of the six months for all participants to gather for a small after party. If you have further inquiries, kindly visit our webpage at 600wm.com or visit your nearest 600WM outlet."**

 

 

It was finally the first of June. It was chilly in Cambridge and leaves were starting to fall.  
            It was near noon and Louis was walking down the street from uptown. His' feet padded along the pavement along with another pair of footsteps. Liam and he decided to walk because the weather was not too cold and Louis needed some exercise anyways. His belly was building up fat again and he was beginning to look chubby. _That won't attract any hot guys, will it?_ , he had told himself that morning. He knew the exact words to motivate himself. But deep down, he knew that even if he did look good, it would be hard to find a man who was interested in men too. There weren't very much of them in Cambridge, at least none that he knew of so far. Sad.  
            Birds were chirping and there was a slight breeze. It was a normal day, but it wasnt a normal day. For starters, Louis was actually walking and not showing off the BMW 1000 R he got a few months back. Plus today was the day he would get to read Harry's letter, that was something to mark down on his calender.  
            Earlier, Liam and he had stopped by the 600WM stand down the street right after breakfast at Bern's. He had his letter in hand, the letter from Harry, it was very neatly enveloped and he began to wonder about what type of person Harry was. It ranged from the little things, like whether if he liked animals, to the major things like his disorder. Was his social phobia intense to the extend that he couldnt even communicate in writing? Louis pouted to himself, he would get his answers in the next few months.  
            He'd gotten his partner's name just a few days back along with his details. He remembered seeing 'Social Anxiety' in Harry's biography. He was now expecting a lot of crossed out sentences in the letter, low self esteem and all, but social phobia was a very complex disorder so he really couldnt judge. He was eager to hear (or read) about what having social phobia was like. Beside's that, like any other young university student, Louis wondered if Harry was good looking. He imagined being able to cure his anxiety issue and being his knight in a shining armor, both of them riding off to the sunset on his horse (or bike). He couldn't help it, his imagination was flying all over the place, especially after all the Disney movies he'd watched. Just then, he realized that he wasn't walking normally, he was bouncing on his toes with each step.   
            "Hey Lou," Liam bumped his elbow against his arm. Louis immediately stopped bouncing and sent a questioning look to him. Liam wiggled his brows and teased, "You look  _real'_  excited."  
            Louis stuck out his tongue and said, "I am, aren't you? I mean, it's going to be great, being able to interact with people who are experiencing a _mental disorder_. And, you know, help them."  
            Liam just smiled in return.  
            For the assignment, Liam got a girl named Isabelle. She was diagnosed with Tic's, which was when your muscles jerk unrythemically. He had specifically requested that if there was someone with the disorder, the person would be asssigned to him because his sister had suffered through the same thing and he knew what to do to help. He knew some remedies and which foods to avoid. Liam, as helpful as he was, helped his younger sister, Ruth, throughout the years and now she was much better than she started off. Louis had seen Liam's sister a few weeks ago, and it seemed as if she was perfectly fine, despite the light shakes of her feet whenever she sat down. Liam told him that when they were younger, she would constantly blink and her legs were very fidgety. And that sometimes, their parents would hit her when they got frustrated at the constant repeat of actions and even threaten her to tears. For a second, Louis imagined his sisters getting beaten and reduced to sobs, blood everywhere. It caused his heart to go completely sour and his chest to hurt. He shook it off. It took Ruth over seven years to recover. As horrible as it sounded, Louis was glad that it wasn't him who had to go through all that. He knew that he was a little unstable and that he wouldn't be able to take it.  
            He tried to lift his mood by thinking about the letter in his palm and what they would contain. It worked like a charm.   
            "Bye Louis," Liam said and Louis turned to look at him. He would have to turn left while Louis stayed on the path. Liam lived a few blocks further away from him and his place was a lot more grand than his little apartment. They would've stayed together but Louis liked things simple. A small apartment was all he needed at the moment.They waved at each other.  
            Soon he came to a familiar block with faded green walls and white windows, the familiar 'Donny Residences' plastered over the top of the building. Passing his BMW motorbike, he caressed it with the lightest touch, as if with any more pressure, the beautiful machine would just crumble at his feet. After he snapped out of his trance, he steered himself to the left and took the stairs up to the fourth floor, digging his pocket for his keys on the way. Of course, being as clumsy as he was, he accidentally dropped them on the hard surface of the stairs, sending a loud cling echoing the hallway. And, as expected, a grey figure came running towards him. He smiled automatically.  
            It was Martin's cat. He was a Birman and he had green eyes. Beautiful eyes of those, Louis reckoned he could find any cat or anyone else that had eyes like those. His fur were so really the softest and he was grey in colour, a very light shade of grey, which was why Louis had decided to name him Smokebomb. It was also partially because he didn't know his real name.  
            He gave Smokebomb a small pat and made his way to his door, two doors away from Martin's, after picking up his keys. He pulled the black patterned gates over and stepped in along with Smokebomb. He locked the gate with a squeak of the key lock. He raised his brows at the Birman, "You better leave at 3, you know that's when Martin comes back."  
            The cat of course didnt understand a word he was saying, but perked up at the mention of Martin. Martin was a sweet old man. Louis didnt really know him but he once gave him a bit of the apple pie he baked, so he was just going to assume that he was a nice friendly old man and pray hard that he wasn't like the witch in Snow White. Apple, apple pie, same thing when they're poisoned.  
            Louis flicked the lights on and dumped his key on his shoe rack wincing at the dried bubblegum on the underside of it. It had been there ever since he moved in and he just couldn't find the courage to touch the thing. He walked towards the sitting room, or the only room in the apartment. After he plopped himself comfortably over his worn out couch, he tore the letter open as gently as he could.  
            ' ** _Dear Louis,_** ' he read and made a face. Harry was pretty formal. Louis thanked god that he wasn't the one who wrote the first letter, he was sure that he would've started of with a casual 'hey' or 'what's up', which would be embarassing if Harry was one of those posh brits.   
            ' _ **My name's Harry, and you probably know that already. I'm 17, and you probably also know that.**_ ' Louis let out a breathy laugh, he didn't sound so posh now. He smiled, Harry could introduce himself properly through his writing, which was a good start.  
            ' _ **I'm homeschooled, this Im sure you don't know.**_ ' Right behind was, ' ** _At least I hope you dont know that._** 'Another smile reached his lips. _Isn't this boy something_ , Louis thought. _He's got a decent sense of humor._  
            ' ** _Im assuming that you just want to jump straight to my disorders, this being an assignment for you and all._** ' Louis cringed. He was afraid that Harry would think that. It wasn't just an assignment to him, he genuinely wanted to get to know Harry. And be a friend, more than just play a part of a project. He wanted to genuinely understand Harry's condition.  
            ' _ **I was diagnosed at 11 with social phobia. It wasn't a real shock to me, just to my parents and relatives. I already figured it out at maybe ten or so. Homeschooling since birth wasn't so good after all, lack of social interaction and all.**_ '   
            ' ** _Im sorry if my sentences don't link. Im not very good at communicating if you don't already know that. I'm just writing whatever comes to mind._** ' Louis saw no need for the apology. He was fine with people who were straight forward.  
            ' ** _Before I was diagnosed with social anxiety, I was already suffering from Susac's Syndrome, which is a rare disorder._** ' It seemed familiar to him. He had came across it once of twice in text books. ' ** _Maybe you've read about it before since you're a psychology major. But incase you haven't, it has effect on your hearing, sight and memory. For me, my sight is distorted, my hearings not too bad but I only have a 24 hour memory span. My memory is the hardest thing to deal with. But I leave notes for myself everyday so when the next day I wake up and I forget everything I just look at the notes. Susac's is probably the main reason I started homeschooling. I was diagnosed at fourteen._  **'  
            Louis frowned. Harry seemed like he had a hard life. It was hard to imagine how it'd feel waking up with no memory of what had happened the day before. It must be very confusing. How on earth did he cope? He felt sad for Harry and had the urge to just go to where he was and give him a big long hug.  
            ' ** _Is the 600 Words Minimum thing really a rule? I find it difficult to reach even 300 words. I'll just stop here._** ' Another laugh escaped Louis' lips. Harry was not at all what he had expected. His communication was not bad and he was quite witty to be frank. He'd taken a liking to the aura of innocence Harry gave out.  
             He continued reading,' ** _I hope you reply._** ' Why on earth wouldn't he? He couldn't not reply even if he wanted not to, literally, it was against the terms and conditions of the whole program.  
            ' _Sincerely, Harry._ '

 

 

In Cheshire, the temperature was at its lowest. Harry had woken up shivering into his blanket, and was still wrapped in it. He couldnt remember anything particular and picked up a notebook next to his pillow which explained everything.  
             After finishing the pages, he got his instrument and started playing it. He remembered that his favorite song was the Jamaican Farewell. Right now, it was the only song he didn't forget. His finger danced as he blew his saxaphone, enjoying the melodic tune waltzing into his ears, it made the ringing stop. He was seated on the edge of his bed. It was around twelve and it was a weekday which, according to his note, meant that he would have to do Math later after lunch. He'd skipped breakfast today because he woke up a little bit later and needed some time to read his note and make sense out of it.  
            'Letter marked as read.' Harry's device beeped from his back pocket as he fumbled with his instrument. He took a deep breath.  
            The little black pen drive-like thing was given to him when he submitted his registration form for a letter exchange program which his psychologist suggested, according to his note. There was also a piece of paper attached to the device through a small ribbon. The instruction stated that it was to keep track of the letters and let him know when to go to the store to collect his letter. Everytime he'd read a letter sent to him he was to press the blue button and the red one was for when he sent a letter, so Louis would know.  
            And now, he knew that Louis had read the letter, which got him nervous again. The note said that he wrote the letter a good two weeks before the due date and he spent the entire 14 days proof reading the letter like the notes he wrote himself told him to. There were around three times that Harry had to rewrite the letter because it didnt seem good enough. It was hard not thinking about what Louis thought about it.  
            "Haz," he heard a feminine voice coming from outside his room. It was Gemma. He was told that he remembered everyone he met before fourteen because that was before he had Susac's, which was very fortunate, because he didnt know what he would do without his family. He could recognize all their voices but if they had changed in looks he wouldn't be able to identify them, which was why he had a whole album with updated pictures of his family and friends. His door swung open with a creak and a head popped in, "Hey, it's Gemma, and it's like noon! Did you wake up late today?"  
            He had a look of surprise on his face. That morning he hadnt look into the photo album just yet and in his memory, she was still the bucktoothed girl with short hair. This Gemma was so womanly (she had boobs!) and her hair was her natural colour, not black like she had dyed it then. According to his note, she was twenty, which meant she was through with puberty, which he couldn't remember much about.  
            "Yeah, I got up at eleven and spent an hour reading," he motioned to the piece of paper,"My... note." Gemma gave a look of recognition and nodded. He felt a little bit uncomfortable in the presence of grown up Gemma and she could sense the tension too. It had always taken an hour or two for Harry to warm up to her again. It took time.  
            "Get ready and get down for breakfast okay? Wait, I mean lunch," she made a face before shutting the door. She left him some time to get adjusted. He listened as her feet padded down stairs. Then, he got up and looked himself in the mirror. He still had his curls and his wacky teeth but he was much taller than he remembered. He put on his glasses and took a look at his wardrobe. He changed into a pair of jeans and went down to join them for lunch.  
            Lunch consisted of exchanging facts on the minor changes in the family and a lot of lasagna. The lasagna tasted familiar, like home. Harry was surprised that his mom and dad still looked pretty much the same as they did in his memory, which was about three years ago. His dad still wrinkled at the same places when he laughed and he was friendlier. His mom was still the comforting person she had been. All he had to adjust to was Gemma, who had made some progress in her sense of humor as she managed to sneak a laugh or two out of him. Lunch was great and Harry felt comfortable around Gemma again. They had some small talk throughout the meal, exchanging details on interesting topics.  
            Around three, after he had done his Maths, Harry felt a buzz in his pocket. He was outside his house, sitting in the back yard, watching the flowers. He pulled out the device. 'Letter sent.' It read on the screen. He bit his lip out of habit. _Wow, this guy is fast, an afternoon and he's done with the letter._  He pulled out his notebook and wrote a reminder: ** _Get letter from Louis on Sunday_** , which was tomorrow. Then, he resorted to doing some studying on pro-life, not at all able to concentrate because his mind was entirely: _Louis Louis Louis letter letter letter_.  
            That night, after dinner, Gemma came into his room and sat on the carpet beside him while he was up on a social media site trying to not over think about the letter. He adverted his attention to her face. "You up for some adventure tonight, Haz?" she smiled her kind smile.  
            Harry's mind was still as of a fourteen year old. He felt embarrassed at his weird thoughts. "What sort of... adventure?" he asked cautiously.  
            Gemma laughed aloud at his tone. She proceeded to explain that on some nights, she would take him out, since there were less people. It had became a routine for them. They went to carnivals, the movies, ice cream and everything fun. Harry's sudden confusion turned into excitement as he shooed her out of his room so that he could change into something nice, and of course warm. It was freezing behind the windows the last time he checked.

_To be continued..._

**Author's Note:**

> If you like it then maybe leave a kudos, so i know if you like the plot.


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